Twenty-four year old Dexter Michaels has arrived in the UK for a fresh start – leaving everything and everyone he knows behind in the states. Determined to put right some of the wrongs he’ll never be able to forgive himself for making and make his Aunt Sarah – the only person left who still believes in him – proud, he lands in London with the intention of working hard, getting his degree and keeping himself to himself. He can’t destroy anybody else that way…
His heart and his body have other ideas however when he finds himself sitting next to nineteen year old Emily Barton in his Psychology class. Moving down south to find her own New Life, Emily is shy, smart and beautiful – everything Dexter knows he should stay away from… everything he knows would be too easy for him to break.
But she makes him feel things he’d forgotten even existed. She makes him laugh, smile, care… forget. Without her trying, and without him realizing, Emily has wound her way into the one place he swore to keep locked away forever – his heart. But can she stay there when she discovers the dark past he’s so determined to keep hidden from her? Or will he destroy her too, just like he always expected?
(Not recommended for younger readers due to language, drug/alcohol abuse and sexual content)
Tbird’s Review
I felt the beginning of this story was a bit slow and was seriously driving me crazy because I wanted Emily with Dex right away. It took a while, of course it would to us readers when we can see they belong together. Once they decided to go for it, it was INTENSE. My point? DON’T GIVE UP ON THIS STORY BECAUSE YOU WILL MISS A GREAT READ.
Emily is a beautiful young lady both inside and out, but she comes from a mother who never showed her what qualities she had. She had a brother she was close to, but he was also a disappointment to her mother and was banished from the family. She decides to move away and go to college with her best friend who is in a wheel chair. Trying to gain her mothers pride and acceptance she enrolls in college, and tries to find a job to support herself, even though she will never live up to what her mother would consider acceptable for this family.
Dex was a handsome play boy with a ton of broken pieces to his soul. He was so engulfed in guilt from his past, he refused to let people get close to him. We know he has an Aunt in America, but he doesn’t have friends. He even has a rating system for women, and he always tries to avoid women like Emily who think they can rescue him. He had suffered something that I am not sure any young man could ever overcome, but then he meets Emily. She melts his defenses and his heart. He spends most of the book trying to protect her from his past. He finally admits some of the mistakes he has made, I think in hopes Emily would run away from him. Then one day he receives the call he has been dreading, he needs to come home and say goodbye.
Emily being the innocent woman who has no clue that this man could be hiding such extreme and dangerous secrets wants to go back to America with him. She knew he had moved to England, running away from something, but she has no clue the real reason he had to go back and what he was about to face. It didn’t matter to her, he needed her and she was going to be there. There was no way he was going to feel the abandonment she felt from her own family if she could help it.
This is where the story gets intense. I was shocked at what Dex was hiding, I was even more impressed with how Emily dealt with it. She has the biggest heart and the highest level of patience and compassion for him, it was an amazing story to read. Dex and Emily showed the reader about mercy and grace. Forgiveness and love, guilt and redemption. The author did a wonderful job at surprising us, taking us down paths that didn’t know even existed and giving us characters that we will either be drawn to or repelled by. I will state that I think Emily’s friend could be misunderstood. She does come across as brash and rude, but I think we can’t miss the fact she is loyal and I think there is something inside her she is protecting with her attitude. I hope we get a book soon that will give us more about her. I recommend this book, but as I stated, don’t give up on the first part because of how slow Emily and Dex move in the story. Once they are together it is an intense roller coaster ride.
I live in Rochdale, England with my wonderful family. I have two novels under my belt (Inevitable and Saving Amy) and have just finished writing Take My Hand – book 1 in a 3 part series – which will be released in October.
When I’m not playing with my imaginary friends I can usually be found looking after my four adorable (sometimes!) children (five if you include the dog, six if you include the hubby!) or studying towards my English Literature degree.
All in all I’m just an ordinary mum with an addiction to reading about hot book guys, writing about hot book guys and Pepsi Max!
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Release Day: October 7th, 2013
AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLES
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Thanks so much for your review. You are spot on about Rachel and I am currently writing her and Jared’s story which will be book 3 in the series 😀
You are very welcome and you just made my day. I knew that had to be more to her than what we were able to see in this book. I can hardly wait to read her story.
Thank you! 🙂